Ok, so Jaime Alguersuari is young, quick, drives for Toro Rosso and a pretty likeable bloke. Where has that happened before……… Oh yeah a little german named Sebastian Vettel. Vettel was brought into Red Bull to replace the retiring David Coulthard, something that Mark Webber will surely be considering at the end of next season when his Red Bull contract expires, or at least to get away from Red Bull. This paves the way for a seat at the quickest team in F1 and so to fill it they want a quick driver, preferably from thier junior team so they have F1 experience. Firstly Sebastien Buemi, he hasnt really set the world alight, then Jaime Alguersuari. so he’s had a few eventful seasons, but that’s why he’s in Toro Rosso, to gain experience. Another year and i think he’ll be fit for a top drive. Plus he claims Red Bull forced him to take the Toro Rosso seat, a sign they want him in the future? As far as i can believe in 2012 the Red Bull line-up will be Sebastian Vettel and Jaime Alguersuari.

I have a similar view. Alguersuari started his career under harder conditions than Buemi, yet Jaime has had the upper hand in the last few races. I think that Webber is gonna retire in the end of 2011 so RBR will need a replacement. Raikkonen will not come back to F1 and Kubica is likely to go to Ferrari so most probably RBR will choose between its B-team drivers and while Jaime is still a bit unconsistent at the moment, I think he has what it takes to be a great driver.

Its a big debate regarding who is the better driver between Buemi and Alguersari. I think they are both evenly matched, but to compare Alguersuari to Vettel is like comparing a Virgin car to a Ferrari. Vettel is atleast a few leagues ahead on talent, pace and consistency.

Talent: he’s outperformed buemi in his first full season, buemi in his second. Alguersuari has also been on course for good points but Toro Rosso keep stuffing up, something they’ve admitted to.

Pace: he’s very quick and now started to reguarly out-perform buemi on pure pace in qualifying in a car that really isnt quick.

Consistency: again this is mainly down to the team, his two retirements this year being due to mechanical failures and his average grid position is 15th but his average race position is 12th with normal finishing positions between 11th and 13th, which is quite consistent, no he’s not consistently quick because the car isnt

Red Bull have already said the team ill be built around Vettel. That means when Mark goes, he’ll be clear #1; there’ll be no McLaren tactic of getting the best two drivers available, or the Ferrari tactic of getting one great driver and one good driver in case the former mucks up (and which in practice works the same as McLaren’s anyway).

So from 2012 or even next year Red Bull will want a #2. As much as I championed Buemi last year, I think Alguesuari has moved ahead of him in ability and he would be the natural choice for Red Bull to pick up. In a way he’s like a lesser version of Vettel, so what’s good for the goose would be good for the gander and Jaime could be somewhat relied on to pick up as many pieces from a Vettel failing as possible whilst never beating him.

No way has Alguersuari outperformed Buemi this year. He’s been pretty disapointing all things considered, although he’s done a bit better of late.

Think of all the great F1 drivers. They’ve all done at least something to catch people’s eye in their first season or two, even in bad cars: think of Alonso’s heroics with Minardi, Vettels 4th place in his first season with Toro Rosso, Webber holding off Salo for 5th on his debut, Button qualifying 3rd at Spa 2000. And what has Alguersuari done by comparison? ZILCHO

I’d give him another chance in 2012, and if he doesn’t perfrom than move the conveyor belt on further and wait for the next Vettel to arrive

Lets not forget that Buemi started the season with 3 retirements out of this first 5 races. In all those races he looked close to scoring points, or atleast closer than his teammate. Sure, Alguersuari stepped it up in the latter part of the season, but to say that he is quicker than his teammate isn’t true. And I still feel its too early for you to compare Alguersuari to the likes of Vettel. Vettel was clearly better than his teammate from the 1st race for Toro Rosso.

I don’t know. They have Ricciardo who could be a good long term prospect and Buemi gets along well with Helmut I believe. I know the testing ban is ridiculous and means it takes an long, long time for rookies to shine these days but Hulkenberg has always shown speed against Rubens and Petrov has shown greta racing craft and beat him in Hungary and it’s taken Jaime forever just to even really bother Buemi.

I thought he showed promise last year and that he could be something good but this season he’s done almost nothing to suggest he deserves the Red Bull drive. He’s finally stringing a few good weekends together and I know STR have a reputation for being a nightmare with their drivers but I think he should have delievered more and as Todtfod points out, Buemi had a rotten time at the beginning of the season with everyone taking him out. I’d probably give him another season because of the testing ban and maybe with that much experience he’ll step it up as he is in better form at the moment but if Red Bull are grooming him they could be making a mistake.

I never said Alguesuari was as good as Webber or Alonso, just that he’s the natural choice for Red Bull since they clearly don’t want two strong drivers. I didn’t even say he’s done better than Buemi all year; in fact, Ned and Todfod, you’ve just agreed with my point about doing better than Buemi lately. He may have less points, but he’s held his own against Buemi with an average finishing position of 12 to Buemi’s 11.25. Buemi has also had one more year and more general experience in single-seaters and yet not beating Jaime by that much.

Buemi will probably get it because of Marko though. Whoever does will be basically doing a Kovalainen though.

Well someone is going to play as Kovalainen and serve as Vettel’s helper once Webber is gone, that’s for sure. I’m thinking ALG and BUE are evenly matched right now, but Alguersuari should have the seat.

Why? Simple. Red Bull is a brand that needs to be recognized and to appeal to it’s market of teenagers and young adults with very defined values. What do you prefer to be linked with your energy drinks? Which one your market is more likely to appreciate and identify with?

Kubica at Red Bull for 2012 wouldn’t be out of the question! Engine connection with his current team…and why wouldn’t he? A solid and reliable driver in a Red Bull is always a winning combination as Webber has proven.

And Kubica @ RBR? I doubt it. I can’t see him playing second fiddle to Seb or vice versa. I think Alguersuari would be happy to come on board and knowingly support Seb initially but at least giving him a fair crack with regards to early season development.